The Best Burger in America? We Got 12 of 'Em

by James Oliver Cury

on 07/23/09 at 04:19 PM

You know how everyone's a food critic? Well, these days, everyone's a burger critic. Doesn't matter what city. Or how much money you have. Or whether you like the over-the-top burgers with the haute ingredients (foie gras, kobe, short ribs) or the classic patty-sandwich variety. Every blog I run into has a burger-to-bun analysis or a slideshow of 10,000 great burgers (ok, we have a burger recipe slideshow, too). And every chef, or so it seems, has to have a hamburger on the menu. It's a recession thing.

But that doesn't mean that everyone knows what they're talking about. All too often I see burger roundups written by people who can't possibly have tried all the best burgers in the regions that their article attempts to cover. Recognizing that this country needed a definitive and timely guide to the best burgers in the USA, we asked 11 acclaimed food writers in 11 states to identify their favorite burger joints (I wrote the New York entry, making it 12 joints total). The resulting writeups comprise a guide that's diverse in every sense: visually, culinarily, and geographically.

Behold our best burger guide. And if you don't agree, well, tell us why in the comments field.

It's funny, my partner and I live in Pasadena and have never been to Pie n' Burger. It is honestly 5 blocks from my house. However, I have been to Port of Call and I must say it was the best burger of my life http://uncouthgourmands.com/2009/03/07/nawlins-trip/

stevebody
03:18:06 PM on
08/18/09

Sorry, but I agree with HighIQBlonde:

"WHERE WAS DENVER OR ANYWHERE IN COLORADO? WHERE WAS MONTANA.. WYOMING.. NEBRASKA, OR EVEN TEXAS? Where were the meat producing states and big beef country cities not represented? I guess the taste test was all about..

YUPPIE BURGER LOVERS UNITE!"

Good questions. The rat in the woodpile, I suspect, is that you used the opinions of those tired, old "experts", local newspaper restaurant critics. Providence Cicero, here in Seattle, has a deep and lasting crush on Lunchbox Laboratory; another one of those places here in Seattle that hammers home the time-honored Northwest quirk that says that Messy Is Better. If you let your members send in their votes for Best Burger in ________ and compiled the results, I can almost guarantee that this list would look entirely different. That is one of the reasons that newspapers like our own Seattle P-I are biting the dust, here in these recessionary times: we as consumers have figured out that we don't actually NEED the validation of an anointed newspaper "expert" critic - with their lofty ruminations on food provenance and the restaurant's cultural aesthetic - when we can read dozens of opinions by folks with palates just like our own who ate there without agenda, paid their own, unreimbursed money, and worried ONLY about whether they liked what was on the plate and the place that plate sits in. It seems odd that Epicurious, one of those same sites like yelp and citysearch and chowhound that have changed the nature of how we get our consumer information, would feel the need to leave something as populist and Everyman as a burger survey in the hands of the Foodie Elite.

I, for one, look at burgers the same way I do all food: as a dish that should be a balance of flavors, textures, temperatures, and grace notes, properly made, carefully cooked, and intended to go into your mouth, not your lap. Having eaten the Lunchbox Lab's "inspired excess", IMHO, it's not that much different from the late, unlamented Daly's, another Seattle institution where the idea was to pile as much crap on the bun as possible, whether it made any sense to or not.

Those of us who have been fortunate enough to travel around the great Heartland on our own Burger Searches will immediately see why this list is a joke. It's really nothing more than a collection of raised-pinky foodie destinations for people who worry if the BMW will be safe in the parking lot while they're inside, slummin' down a burger. What this list mainly shows is where Epicurious' target audience is and how best to give them a hand job.

HighIQBlonde
11:29:04 AM on
07/24/09

WHERE WAS DENVER OR ANYWHERE IN COLORADO?

WHERE WAS MONTANA.. WYOMING.. NEBRASKA, OR EVEN TEXAS?

Where were the meat producing states and big beef country cities not represented?

I guess the taste test was all about..

YUPPIE BURGER LOVERS UNITE!

ramstutz
09:47:43 AM on
07/24/09

How about "Best Burgers Under $10?" Rosebud's burger may be the best in Chicago, but the plain cheeseburger is $17 with tax and tip.

christinepickles
09:13:06 AM on
07/24/09

I was ready to fight, sure you wouldn't have gotten in right--but there was Dumont at the head of the list!! I consider myself very fortunate to live within walking distance...

serena72
08:24:20 AM on
07/24/09

I agree that all 50 states should have been represented, either as a series or bracket style. The cities seemed arbitrary until I realized they were probably chosen for their food critics.

And you're killing me with this. These look so food pornalicious. I'll have to find a reason to get into DC and hit Palena, but that burger from Atlanta looks AMAZING. I love gourmet burgers, but what I really want in a burger is an ear-to-ear mess that runs down my elbows.

suomynona
04:31:51 AM on
07/24/09

Excellent article. You nailed by including Lunchbox Laboratory. I've lived in Seattle most of my life and have had burgers everywhere. There's no place like Lunchbox Laboratory where you can get a plain jane burger, or try one of Scott's wonderful creations by ordering from the specials board. Just mentioning the other 11 places in the same article made me want to try them as well.

johnnyblegs
07:07:52 PM on
07/23/09

What about Las Vegas, one of the top food cities in the USA? It seems you guys really dropped the ball on this one. Just do the list again. People will understand.

johnnyblegs
06:51:33 PM on
07/23/09

The 12 Best Burgers in America? But you chose the sates? Why don't you do this the correct way. Top 50 (because there are 50 states right?) then break it down bracket style with tasters to vote (I volunteer thank you!) Then and only then will you come up with a legitimate Top 12.

BTW: The Best Burger in Seattle is from Zippy's in West Seattle. I can actually think of 10 other burgers that beat out your Seattle selection.

astockel
06:25:36 PM on
07/23/09

I don't agree!

I called each restaurant and asked them about their source of beef:

New York: DuMont Burger - "Raised on grass and corn" - CORN fed FAIL

Miami: Kingdom - Didn't know where they get their beef, didn't know the difference between grass & corn fed. FAIL

Los Angeles: Pie 'n Burger - Ground beef comes from Taylors' in Sierra Madre, CA who buys their beef from Greater Omaha Packing Co (which processes more than 15,000 head of cattle each week at its single plant), against which two lawsuits have been filed and are both seeking class action status against them for allegedly failing to pay thousands of workers for time spent donning and doffing. Greater Omaha processes high quality grain-fed cattle available from the corn belt states, Nebraska and Iowa - CAFO FAIL!

I am not posting a comment to disagree with any of this...just to say yummy! Glad that's what I had planned on for dinner tonight or this would have changed menu plans! Out to the kitchen to caramelize a mess 'o onions!